Rachel Schats is Assistant Professor in Human Osteoarchaeology in the Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University.

More information about Rachel Schats

Office days

Monday to Thursday

Research

Rachel Schats’ main research interests are osteoarchaeology and palaeopathology from a comparative perspective. One of her past projects was looking into the occurrence of syphilis in the Netherlands. Most recently, Rachel has been studying the distribution and impact of malaria in the medieval Netherlands. For this research project, Rachel received a grant from the Bakels Fund in 2017, and most recently, she was awarded the prestigious Veni grant from NWO entitled Mapping Medieval Malaria. To most, malaria is known as a tropical disease, yet, it used to be endemic in the Netherlands up to the 1950s. For the medieval period, little is known about the distribution of malaria, and as a result, it is not taken into account in discussions on medieval health and disease. Rachel’s research aims to remedy this by applying spatial epidemiology to disease prevalence to study the distribution and impact of malaria in the medieval period. Additionally, together with Yale University, she is developing a new method to identify malaria directly in skeletal material.

Curriculum Vitae

Since January 2018, Rachel is an Assistant Professor in Human Osteoarchaeology at the Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University. She studied archaeology with a specialisation in osteoarchaeology at Leiden University and University College London, after which she was appointed as a research and teaching assistant for the Laboratory of Human Osteoarchaeology in Leiden. Her PhD research aimed at gaining a better understanding of the physical consequences of medieval developments, such as urbanisation and commercialisation, by comparing rural and urban skeletal populations. Although differences are observed between the skeletal collections, the key finding is the absence of a marked distinction between town and country. The noted variations in skeletal indicators of disease, activity, and diet are minor and do not support the traditional idea that towns and villages in medieval Holland and Zeeland had become worlds apart. While urban living is frequently associated with negative consequences, this is not supported by this research.

Professional activities

Rachel is chair of the LUF International Study Fund (LISF). This committee of the Leiden University Fund is awarding grants to students who would like to go abroad for research or education while studying at Leiden University. The LISF committee evaluates over 150 applications during seven meetings in which all students are interviewed and their applications discussed.

Additionally, Rachel is on the board of the Stichting ter Financiering van Barge’s Anthropologica, a foundation which aims to maintain the teaching of the subject of physical anthropology at an academic level and to produce high quality scientific research in the field of physical anthropology. To do this, the foundation organises lectures and gives out small scholarships to students and researchers. 

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Activities